‘Digital Natives’ is a term coined to identify the individuals who have been born after 1980 and brought up in a technological world. The ubiquitous digital connectivity and the associated technological dependence of this group of individuals can be ascertained from the fact that for them thinking of a second without the technological gadgets is impossible. They can perhaps survive without food, air or water but living without tablets, laptops, mobile phones is beyond their imagination. They relate relationships with social networking sites like Facebook, Myspace and Twitter, then instant communication and sharing of the digital media content on Whatsapp, Viber etc. These individuals are going to change the work culture in organizations drastically in the near future. The present generation of managers are majorly the ‘digital immigrants’ who did not have exposure to digital world when they were born and whatever they digital learning they inculcated about the personal and professional use of the digital devices was acquired during their adult life. The article by Myers & Sundaram (2012) argues that if this digital savvy generation considers the existing organizational policies as an impediment in implementing their plans and accomplishing their tasks making the use of the digital bridge then the organizations will need to control their ambitious dreams riding digital wings. In fact, certain organizations have restricted the use of digital devices in their work premises to tame this group (Myers & Sundaram, 2012). The present paper cites the differences between the cohorts of digital immigrants and digital natives and explores the way the present systems can deal with this cohort.

Differences between ‘Digital Natives’ and ‘Digital Immigrants’
According to the survey conducted under Project Tomorrow (www.tomorrow.org) it has been found that the use of digital devices, their relation with the routine life practices and the associated dependencies for daily tasks together make this cohort widely different from their digital immigrant counterparts. The prompt and deep accessibility furnished by the technological advances has made this generation highly pragmatic, having preference for things yielding instant gratification and exhibit high degree of digital literacy. They have large network of social connections and belief in experiential learning. The information systems for them are a mean to affirm their identities as they feel happy, sad, alone, excited and so on with the ‘status updates’ they make on the social networking sites; counting the number of ‘likes’ and ‘comments’ on their updates is a method to adjudge their importance in the lives of their acquaintances as well as their relationship value. It is no wonder that they are highly comfortable in exchanging their personal information on public forums, a trait which is significantly different from the digital immigrants who even after years of use of information systems have apprehensions in sharing their personal data and are opinionated on what to share and what not on public forums.
For online communication, the digital natives prefer instant messaging rather than emails; for mobile or telephonic communication the digital natives like text messaging than direct calling. Though it has been observed that the immigrants and natives both use blogs but the reasons for which it is used differ across the two groups. Digital natives use personal blogs as online journals for sharing their personal experiences while the use of blogs made by immigrants is to raise intellectual discussions (Myers & Sundaram, 2012). The technological expertise reflected by these groups has been demarcated by the IS scholars by refer to the immigrants as ‘passive users of IT’ while natives are considered capable enough to create the technical content of their own being active users of IT.
An evaluation of the reading habits of these cohorts reveals that their reliance on digital information to find answers to their queries is extremely high. Google & Wikipedia have become close substitutes to teachers and text books. The way this cohort interacts with digital information is also distinct. The digital information can be approached in a non-sequential manner hopping between the relevant content skipping the unnecessary in between. The online presentation allowing the insertion of multimedia within text makes the content more interesting to cater to the specific needs of the target group (Houston, 2011). The digital literature has also covered a long journey adapting to the changing times encompassing features like open access via World Wide Web making it accessible, interactive as well as connective, incorporation of new design features for use as well as search & navigation and introducing the digital collections with expanded scope.

Though the above discussion highlights the distinction between the two groups but it is ought to be remembered that the switch between these two cohorts is occurring in continual transition and hence it is difficult to segregate individuals in either of the two pure categories. The scrutiny of the emotional responses of the digital natives towards the use of web and what feelings they have regarding web reveal that there is a positive rhetoric about the medium (Page & Mapstone, 2010). The findings of the study indicate that the consumer responses towards the web are influenced by the structure and content as well as the age of the digital natives as the younger they are the more positive they feel about web.
The role of ubiquitous information systems (UIS) needs to adapt itself to cater to the needs of the digital natives by incorporating features that offer attractive, intitutive, personalized and socially interactive (Vodanovich et al., 2010). For example, books must be available in online digitals formats to ensure that the future generations continue to enjoy the literary classics and genres. The digital information must be available for open access to people of all age groups, educational, income, cultural and ethnic background, beyond the physical barriers of region at no cost. The design features need to be more attractive, use an amalgam of media types to present the high quality of information in a way that appeals to digital natives (Houston, 2011). Libraries can incorporate digital collections to exhibit them in interesting ways.

The invasion by ‘digital natives’ is going to revolutionize the way the technology is being perceived and used. Hence the organizational landscapes and the existing information systems need to adapt them as per the changing needs of the users. The information systems are required to become more attractive as well as interactive for personalized and social usage, cheaper and easily accessible.

Long before the Great Recession, Ford had run in tough shape (Hoffman, 2012). Allan Mulally took over the leadership of the company in 2006, a time when it was headed for closure. Since the early 1990’s, Ford had lost about 25 percent of its market share to its competitors (Hoffman, 2012). This was a period when Ford held a great deal of high end products including Volvo, Aston Martin, Land Rover, and Jaguar. For all this time, none of these brands was selling. They needed an amassment of capital to be able to compete effectively in the vehicle industry. For a better part of the 20th century, Japanese automakers controlled the market, acting as pure monopolies in different parts of Europe, America, and Asia. Generally, production costs were high with the cost of labor rising as high as $76 per hour (Hoffman, 2012). This made the firm’s operating margins lag both overseas and at home. Ford’s products were altogether uncompetitive and thus a total overhaul of the company’s operational framework was needed. The much needed change came with the appointment of Allan Mulally as the leader of the company.

In his struggle to revive the company as one of the major automaker firms in the industry, Mulally drafted a plan he dubbed ‘One Ford’ (Hoffman, 2012). His plan did not sound one that would redeem the company from its current situation to many critics. However, as months passed, his plan was integrating all the major components necessary to spur the company to the direction of innovation. Mulally used an integration referred to as ‘sponsor spine.’ Sponsor spine is an high end innovation strategy that not only builds on accomplishment of visions and development of new products but the capacity of an enterprise to drive and contain modernized thinking from one partner to another, one function to another, and one team to another. In his innovation framework, Mulally drafted four major ideas that would change the company for in the long term. These included bringing together all Ford employees as a worldwide team, leveraging the company’s distinctive assets and knowledge on automotives, building trucks and cars that people would prefer to competitors’ products, and arranging for the financing that would foresee the implementation of the entire plan. At the start of the implementation of this plan, the Ford announced a fire up of its product development, workforce competitiveness, financial health, and strategic vision (Hoffman, 2012).

Mullaly reengineered Ford as a mobility company. As a starting point, he acknowledged that the core function of the company did not just lie in the production of cars and trucks but also in the kind of technology to be used to make this a success. For Mulally, technology in the motor industry was key and thus he planned to make this a selling point for the company’s products. Products developed at Ford Company were to become powerhouses in an industry otherwise dominated by consumer electronics. The company would turn trucks and cars into communication and entertainment mobile centers, moving in correspondence with the fast growing social media and smartphone industry (Hoffman, 2012). One of these moves was the introduction of MyFord Touch entertainment panel that was located on a central position in a car, replacing a location previously occupied by radio. This innovation was a breakthrough in the automobile industry with many companies imitating the idea. Through this technology, a driver could engage technology through unique applications, verbalized commands, and radio systems that were growing beyond the expectations of the modern consumers. At present, major automakers have followed Ford’s innovations, incorporating technology in automobiles in the form information centers and mobile entertainment.
In the One Ford plan, Mulally created a platform of collaboration and accountability across the Ford’s leadership structures. Mullaly initiated a transformational culture whose core business was to innovate. This was heckled at the start of his tenure where he stated that the company had been running out of business for the last 40 years (Hoffman, 2012). This statement created a bargaining platform for the CEO with the United Auto Workers. As a result of this negotiation, labor rates were reduced by a whopping $20 per hour to land at $55 per hour (Gifford, 2013). This action was not aimed of depriving workers of their income but a platform that was meant to create a safe landing for the company. This came a long way with reducing production costs threefold at the end of the first financial year of Mulally’s tenure. Mulally would not stop until he influenced the way everything was conducted within the company. He changed the way employees treated one another, the way contractual agreements were made with suppliers, and the way meetings were chaired. Before Mulally took over leadership at Ford, meetings were dominated by executives who sought self-preservation over group effort. All meetings were characterized by combat for supremacy. However, Mulally changed all these by creating a meeting environment where issues would be discussed without passing blame from one individual to another. The way to innovation success dominated the better part of all meetings (Gifford, 2013).

In his meetings, Mulally initiated a ‘Traffic Light’ system where he would get reports on key initiatives underway in the company (Gifford, 2013). A project that bore a green light denoted a pass, a yellow light meant some improvement was direly needed, and a red light asserted the need for an instantaneous change of course. In their initial stages, most of the projects initiated by Mulally showing yellow light. At Ford, Mulally is renowned for paving the way for outstanding execution. Contrary to the beliefs of many innovation strategists, Mulally advanced a system where new products were developed in line with those that consumers had valued in the previous years. For instance, instead of developing purely new products, he redesigned the Fiesta, Focus, and Taurus brands not only in the United States but also across the world (Gifford, 2013). Mulally wiped out weaker automobile brands and introduced a leaner and simpler product line that was channeled to customer service excellence, product development, and manufacturing excellence.

Before Mulally’s appointment, Ford used to develop a different plan each ending year. Whenever one plan did not materialize, the company developed a new one. However, Mulally’s plan was far much different. Based on the four points, working as a team, designing cars and trucks according to customers’ preferences, and leveraging Ford’s worldwide assets, he constructed very simple plans which employees found easy to implement. Mulally would reemphasize on the four points in all kind of meetings and press conferences he summoned. In general, Mulally advocated for coming up with one idea and sticking to it (Schermerhorn, 2012).

From the start of his tenure, Mulally did not take long to realize that Ford did not just constitute a single product, that is one Ford. In essence, there were many Fords. He realized that there was Ford of Africa, Ford of Asia, Ford of Europe, and a number of other divisions and subsidiaries across the world (Hoffman, 2012). In addition, he realized there has only a little coordination between the company’s many parts. At the implementation of the One Ford plan, Mulally devised sub-plans that would help integrate these many regional divisions into one worldwide enterprise. This, he knew, would be a milestone towards the creation of economies of scale. A multinational automotive powerhouse would also be developed as a result. In the initial stages of the One Ford implementation plan, Ford Company did not show any sign of progress and thus critics were quick to go against Mulally’s one way plan. When asked of a possible merger to boost the company’s capital base, Mulally, suggested that Ford would only merge with itself. This showed Mulally’s rigidity to One Ford plan and an impossibility to a change of course (Schermerhorn, 2012).

From the time of the introduction of the One Ford plan, Ford Company has made tremendous progress in the automobile industry. For instance, the company has been successful in developing EcoBoost Engine, enhancing efficiency in fuel consumption in most of its automobiles. Over the last five years, Ford has generated about $50 billion in revenues. The once deteriorating company is now selling its shares at $13 (Hoffman, 2012). This is a 500 percent increase in share price compared to the price in 2009. What has left many people wondering is that when Mulally joined Ford in 2006, he was naïve in the industry. However, he understood all that was needed to change a volatile culture that would grow a business, a brand, and people (Schermerhorn, 2012).

Work as many of the following problems as you can. Be sure your proofs are readable and, for the most part, rigorous. You are encouraged to turn in any positive work on a problem, even if you do not complete all parts. The exam is due by Friday afternoon, May 10.

(True-False) Decide which of the following statements are true and which are false. Prove the true statements and give counter examples for the false ones.

If is a convergent sequence and is a divergent sequence, then must diverge.

If and are both divergent sequences, then must diverge.

If and are convergent sequences such that for every n, then

If , then converges.

If converges and , then converges.

If converges to , then .

If and if there exists a sequence converging to a such that , then

a. Prove: If and , then is eventually less than b. (In other words, there exists such that whenever .)

Prove: If and , then is eventually greater than a. (If you prove a., then you may say that the proof of b. is similar.)

Let be a sequence of positive terms such that . Prove the following:

If , then , (Hint: First show that is eventually deceasing and, therefore, converges (why?); then show that the limit must be 0. Note: Problems 2 and 1. f. above may be useful.)

If , then . (Hint: Show that is eventually increasing but does not converge.)

Find a sequence such that and .

Find a second sequence such that and .

a. Let be a sequence of positive terms. Prove that the infinite series either converges or diverges to . (In other words, assume for every n and let be the sequence of partial sums . Prove that either converges or diverges to .)

Suppose that and are two positive term series such that for every n.

Prove: i. If diverges, then diverges too.

If converges, then converges too.

This is known as the comparison test for positive term series.

Let be an open interval containing a and suppose f and g are two functions defined on .

Prove: If , then f is bounded on a deleted -neighborhood of . (In other words, show there exists and M such that if then .)

Prove: If f is continuous at a, then f is bounded on -neighborhood of . (This is almost a direct consequence of part a.)

Prove: If and g is bounded on a deleted -neighborhood of a, then . (Do not assume exists.)

Show by counter example that c. is no longer true if .

Find a continuous function that is a surjection (onto) but does not have a fixed point. (i.e. for every )